Machine for assembling the base-wads, liners, and tubes of cartridges.



- H. D HODGE. MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING THE BASE WADS, LINERS, AND TUBES 0F CARTRIDGES.

APPLIGATION IILED JAN. 28, 1909.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

f/j/ w fumnsw. a. GRAPAM co. PNOTO-LHHOGEAPNERS. wnsmumuu. a c.

H; D. HODGE. I MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING THE BASE WADS, LINERS, AND TUBES OF CARTRIDGES APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28, 1909. 7 937, 05, Patented 0@1;.19,1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mnazw, a. mum co. PNDYO-LmGRlPKE-RS. 'msamamn a I:

H. D. HODGE. MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING THE BASE WADS LINERS, AND TUBES 0P CARTRIDGES.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN.2B, 1909. 9373605.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

a sums-SHEET s.

9 H. D. HODGE. MACHINE FOB ASSEMBLING THE BASE WADS, LINERS, AND TUBES 0F CARTRIDGES. 1 APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28, 19094. 9

937, 05, 9 Patented 10st. 19, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

-H. D. HODGE. MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING THE ms WADS, LINERS, AND TUBES 0F CARTRIDGES;

' APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28, 1909.

, Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

' 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

$5,5515155:5251 1 6IIIii/5175515555 ANDREW. a. GRAMM co.. FHOfO-UTHOGRAPHERS, wAsnmmem a c.

i and wad out of its hole.

UNITED STATES TATENT OFFICE.

HOWARD DOUGLAS HODGE, OF WALTI-IAM ABBEY, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 NOBELS EXPLOSIVES COMPANY, LIMITED, OF GLASGOW, SCOTLAND.

MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING TI-IE BASE-WADS, LINERS, AND TUBES 0F CARTRIDGES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 28, 1909. Serial No. 474,786.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I HOWARD DOUGLAS Hooon; works manager of Waltham factory, Nobels Explosives 00., Ltd, a citizen of the United States, residing at Joyce House, WValtham Abbey, Essex, England, have invented a new and useful Machine for Assembling the Base-Wads, Liners, and Tubes of Cartridges, of which the following is a specification.

At present in the manufacture of cartridges the base wads and liners are usually inserted into the tubes by hand..

The object of this invention is to provide a machine for assembling these parts.

The tubes are inserted by hand a little way into holes bored through a horizontal wheel to which a step by step movement of rotation is imparted. Above the wheel is a tool carrier on which are secured various tools and each time the wheel stops the carrier descends and a punch upon it drives a tube half way into its hole. At the next stop a second punch drives the tube home. The tube then comes underneath a hole in another step by step rotating wheel in which hole is a liner inelosing a wad and a third punch drives the liner and wad partly down into the tube. At the next stop a fourth punch drives the liner and wad home to the bottom of the tube and finally an ejector punch of so large a diameter that it engages the tube itself pushes the tube with its liner The liners and wads may be inserted into their wheel by hand but preferably the liners are placed with their turned in edges down upon a table which may be slightly inclined and from which they pass onto a horizontal rotating disk by which they are fed to the wide mouth of a guideway which narrows down so that the liners are arranged in a single line and presented one by one to a slide. This slide which is preferably urged forward by a spring and positively withdrawn pushes the leading liner over one of the holes in the second wheel above mentioned. A sixth punch on the reciprocating carrier pushes the liner down into the hole.

At the next stop of the wheel a tool may open the mouth of the liner so that it may readily receive a wad which may be pushed down into it by a seventh punch at the next stop of the wheel. The wads may be supplied to this seventh punch by mechanism similar to that which feeds -the liners.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a frontelevation of a machine made in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation and Fig. 3 a plan. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan showing the method of giving motion to some of the parts. Fig. 5 is a vertical section to a larger scale on the line 55 Fig. -3. Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are detail views showing the work done by the various tools.

a is the main shaft driven by a belt on the belt pulley a and driving by miter wheels a a vertical shaft a on which is an eccentric a (see Fig. 4) connected by a link a to a pair of arms 6 which are loose on a shaft 6 and carry a pawl b gearing with a ring of teeth 25 fast on this shaft. By this means a step by step movement of rotationis imparted to the wheel 0 fast on the shaft 6.

Through this wheel is bored a series of holes.

0 into which an attendant standing in the position on the right of Fig. 5 inserts the tubes. On the shaft a is a cam plate d in the groove d of which works a roller d suspended from which is the tool carrier 6 moving in fixed guides d Each time the wheel 0 stops, the carrier descends and a punch 6' upon it drives the tube 1 half way into its hole (see Fig. 6). At the next stop a second punch 6 drives the tube home while at the next stop a tool 6 may clear the mouth of the tube to make sure that it is ready for the insertion of a wad and liner. At the next stop the tube comes underneath one of a series of holes f ina wheel f'on a shaft f geared by toothed wheels f (see Figs. 4 and 5) to the shaft 6. It will be seen that the wheel 7 thus receives a step by step movement of rotation. In the hole f is a liner 2 inclosing a wad 3 and a third punch 6 drives the liner and wad partly down into.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

hole. To facilitate this operation the holes 0 may be shaped or bushed so as only to fit the tube tightly for a portion of its length.

As'tlie punches e e and e have to have a longer travel than the tools first mentioned they may be carried on a separate frame 9 capable of sliding in a bracket g on the carrier e and as the carrier descends the frame is slid upon it by means of a lever g pivoted to the carrier at g and turning about a fixed fulcrum 9 see Fig. 2. p

h is a table upon which the liners may be placed with their turned in edge down and from which they are pushed onto a horizontal disk It fast on a vertical shaft 7L continuously rotated in an anti-clockwise direction by a crossed belt 7L passin over a pulley lo on the shaft k and a pufiey a on the shaft a The rotation of the disk carries the liners to the mouth of a guideway h which narrows down so that the'liners are arranged in a single line and presented one by one to a slide 2' moving in guides 2" and operated by a bell crank 2' pivoted at 2' and rocked upon its pivot against a spring 2" by a rocking lever i, a roller 2' on the lower end of which (see Fig. 5) engages a star wheel f on the shaft f the whole being so arranged that for each step of the wheel 0 on the wheel 7 the slide 2' pushes a liner 2 over one of the holes f into which it is pushed by a punch e on the carrier 6 (see Fig. 8). At the next stop of the wheel 7 a tool c on the carrier a may open the mouth of the liner 2.

7c is a table, a disk on a shaft 70 rotated by a belt 70 on pulleys a is, 71: is a guideway, Z a slide in guldes Z, Z a bell crank pivoted at Z and provided with a spring 1, all similar to the parts it, h, 7%, h a, h h, 2', z", 2' 2' i already desecribed (except that the belt 70 is not crossed) and adapted to feed wads one by one beneath a punch e on the carrier 6 by which the wad is pushed down into the liner (see Fig. 8). Owing to the arrangement of the machine the shaft 70 gets in the way of the belt h and a guide pulley 74 is therefore provided on that shaft so that the belt k may run smoothly.

If desired agitating wheels h 70 (shown in Fig. 3 only) driven by belts from the shafts if 70 may be employed to agitate the liners and wads and prevent them from amming in the mouths of the guideways If 70'.

At the next stop of the wheel f an inspector punch 6 upon the carrier 6 may en ter the liner (see Fig. 8). Should a wad have been inserted upside down in the liner, this punch is prevented from moving with the carrier for the last part of its downward movement and so rocks a lever m pivoted at m to the carrier, see Fig. 1. This lever then turns a quadrant m on its fulcrum and pushes by means of a pin m a lever n from beneath a fixed shoulder 17/ against a spring 71 The other end of this lever nwhich is fulcrumed at n is attached to one end of a lever 0 fulcrumed at 0 while the other end is connected by a rod 0 to an arm 0 fulcrumed at 0 and constantly pulled up by the spring 0 attached to a fixed bracket 0. hen therefore the inspector punch is stopped by a wad which is upside down the spring pulls up the arm 0 till an incline 0 upon it comes into the path of a tooth 0 upon the shaft. This tooth is thereby moved and a clutch (not shown) is disengaged and the machine stops. The lever a may also be operated from the handle 7) through links 2) 79 and bell crank p What I claim is:

1. The combination of a step by step rotating wheel, having bored through it holes adapted to receive cartridge tubes, a second step by step rotating wheel having bored through it holes adapted to receive liners, means for presenting wads co-axially with the holes containing the liners, a punch adapted to push the wads into the liners, a punch adapted to push the liners and wads from the second wheel into the tubes contained in the first, and means for reciprocating the punches.

2. The combination of a step by step rotating wheel, having bored through it holes adapted to receive cartridge tubes, a second step by step rotating wheel having bored through it holes adapted to receive liners and wads, a die interposed between the two wheels, a punch adapted to push the liners and wads from the second wheel through the die into the tubes contained in the first, and means for reciprocating the punches.

3. The combination of a step by step rotating wheel, having bored through it holes adapted to receive cartridge tubes, a second step by step rotating wheel having bored through it holes adapted to receive liners, means for presenting liners above these holes, a punch adapted to push the liners into these holes, means for presenting wads co-axially with the holes containing the liners, a punch adapted to push the wads into the liners, a punch adapted to push the liners and wads from the second wheel into the tubes contained in the first, and means for reciprocating the punches.

4. The combination of a step by step rotating wheel, having bored through it holes adapted to receive cartridge tubes, a second step by step rotating wheel having bored through it holes adapted to receive liners, I

the die into the tubes contained in the first, and means for reciprocating the punches.

5. The combination of a step by step rotating wheel, having bored through it holes adapted to receive cartridge tubes, a second step by step rotating wheel having bored through it holes adapted to receive liners, means for presenting wads co-aXially with the holes containing the liners, a punch adapted to push the wads into the liners, an inspecting punch, trip mechanism actuated by the inspecting punch should a wad have been inserted upside down, a punch adapted to push the liners and wads from the second wheel into the tubes contained in the first, and means for reciprocating the punches.

6. The combination of a step by step rotating wheel, having bored through it holes, means for inserting cartridge tubes into the holes, a reciprocatlng slide, a rotating disk adapted to feed liners one by one to the slide, a second step by step rotating wheel having bored through it holes, a punch adapted to push the liners presented to it by the slide into the holes in the second wheel, a second reciprocating slide, a rotate ing disk adapted to feed wads one by one to this slide, a punch adapted to push the wads presented to it by this slide into the liners contained in the holes in the second wheel, a punch adapted to push the liners and wads from the second wheel into the tubes contained in the first wheel, and means for reciprocating the punches.

7. The combination of a step by step rotating wheel, having bored through it holes, means for inserting cartridge tubes into the holes, a reciprocating slide, a rotating disk adapted to feed liners one by one to the slide, a second step by step rotating wheel having bored through it holes, a punch adapted to push the liners presented to it by the slide into the holes in the second wheel, a second reciprocating slide, a rotating disk adapted to feed wads one by one to this slide, a punch adapted to push the wads presented to it by this slide into the liners contained in the holes in the second wheel, a die interposed between the two wheels, a punch adapted to push the liners and wads from the second wheel through the die into the tubes contained in the first wheel, and means for reciprocating the punches.

HOWARD DOUGLAS HODGE.

Witnesses A. NUTTING, V PERCY PHILLIPPS. 

